Seattle is ranked most healthful city for women

Seattle ranked as the healthiest of 120 major U.S. cities for women because of its excellent air quality, opportunities for outdoor activities and abundance of hospitals and physicians, a national magazine said Friday.

Bakersfield, Calif., on the other hand, was rated as one of five unhealthiest cities for women, due to high unemployment and high number of pedestrian and bicycle deaths. Also, in 1996, the Environmental Protection Agency reported 56 days with ozone levels above acceptable limits.Seattle is a safe place to get sick, according to the April 28 issue of American Health for Women magazine. State-mandated health insurance coverage for many women-specific tests such as mammograms as well as 22 hospitals and 7,500 physicians in the area gave Seattle the No. 1 ranking among major U.S. cities.

However, Seattle's violent crime rate is 33 percent higher than the na-tion-al average.

San Francisco was rated the second healthiest city for women, with its outdoor activities, prevalence of women-focused health care and ex-cel-lent air quality.

Boston was rated No. 3. There are 18,000 doctors in the Boston area and smoking has been banned state-wide in all restaurants. Crime in Boston is 8 percent below the U.S. average.

Washington D.C./Arlington and Alexandria, Va., came in at No. 4. Numerous hospitals, opportunities for outdoor activities, popularity of carpooling and a reduction in violent crime make this area healthy for women.

Another of the five unhealthiest cities for women is Flint, Mich. American Health for Women said its violent crime rate is 57 percent higher than the national average and there is a low number of health care professionals per capita.